Wildcats' bats come alive, pounding Cal to send seniors out on a high note ahead of Pac-12 tourney

Despite dropping the first two games of the final weekend series to Cal, the Arizona softball team fought back in each game.

On Friday and Saturday nights, it scored in its final at-bats but lost 8-6 in each contest.

The Wildcats were extra motivated and didn’t wait to get the bats going Sunday. It was Senior Day, after all.

Starting in the first inning, the Wildcats didn’t just hit; they scored at will to beat Cal 9-4 at Hillenbrand Stadium in the regular-season finale.

With a six-run explosion in the third inning on a three-run blast off the bat of freshman Dakota Kennedy and a solo homer from Carlie Scupin, Arizona improved to 28-24 while finishing Pac-12 play 6-18.

Wednesday, No. 8-seeded Arizona will play No. 9-seeded ASU in the play-in game of the inaugural Pac-12 Tournament at Hillenbrand. The contest starts at 6 p.m. and will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.

The Wildcats and Sun Devils finished tied for last in the Pac-12. UA won two of three at home against ASU to open the Pac-12 schedule in March.

The winner of that match-up will play No. 1 seed UCLA on Thursday at 4 p.m.

Cal (33-18-1, 9-14-1) earns the No. 6 seed and will face No. 3-seeded Utah at 10 a.m. Thursday.

It was a good send-off for the Wildcats’ three seniors — Breezy Hardy, Ali Ashner and Izzy Pacho. Before the game, family members of each senior threw out a first pitch.

“It felt great,” Arizona coach Caitlin Lowe said of the win. “And more than the win I think watching Izzy on the field all weekend. She’s been through a whole heck of a lot in her five years here and this year specifically. I saw a little 12-year-old Izzy this weekend. She was just playing with so much joy and having so much fun and enjoying her people. That makes me happy regardless of the win and the win is the cherry on top.”

Pacho, the fifth-year senior, made the most of her final regular-season home games. She came off the bench in the first two games, driving in three runs on two hits and scoring once. On Sunday, Pacho started at catcher and scored two more times.

Pacho proved her stuff behind the plate, as well. In the seventh inning, she picked the runner off first after Devyn Netz struck out the batter.

“I remember coach (Mike Candrea) always used to say, ‘We don’t lose on Senior Day,’” Pacho said. “I feel a little bit better (about the win today), but honestly, no matter what day it was, what game we’re playing, we’re playing to win.

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“I’ve been kind of frustrated. throwing them out at second. I feel like my throws have been on point and (runners are) just either leaving early or I’m just not getting them. As soon as they put her in, I said, ‘I’m gonna get you at first. Like if I can’t get you a second. I’m gonna get you at first.’ So as soon as (Elon Butler) struck out and I saw (Makena Smith) off I just I went for it. It’s almost your instincts just take over.”

Kennedy, Scupin and Logan Cole were the really big bats. Kennedy went 2 for 3, drove in four runs and scored twice. Scupin went 2 for 4 and drove in three runs, and Cole went 2 for 3 and drove in two.

Cal scored in the first inning to go up 1-0, but UA quickly tied it up. After scoring two runs in the second inning, the Wildcats held the lead the rest of the way. The six-run third made it 9-1.

It started with Blaise Biringer reaching on an error. Pacho and Kaiah Altmeyer both walked to fill the bases for freshman Cole, who drove in two runs on a single to right field.

Altmeyer, who added two hits and scored two runs, started in center for the second consecutive game in place of Jasmine Perezchica. Lowe said that Perezchica is battling a leg injury that will be looked at by a doctor Monday.

With runners on first and second, Kennedy crushed her 10th home run of the season. Scupin followed with her 10th homer — off a change-up to right field — and her first since returning to the lineup last weekend after being out for over a month after surgery on her broken forearm.

“It felt really good to get that one,” Scupin said. “It was actually funny because Dakota, right before I went up to bat — after she hit her home run — she was telling me about the picture. She was saying just sit change, sit change. (Kennedy) definitely helped me get through that one, but it definitely was amazing.”

Still, with the Wildcats, things are never easy.

The Golden Bears tacked on three runs in the fourth on a solo home run to left, a single and a throwing error — to close the gap to 9-4. They would leave runners on base in the next three innings.

Netz wins No. 15

Netz (15-15) pitched the complete game — her 12th of the season. She struck out six, walked three, and gave up 10 hits. Three of the four runs were earned, and her ERA is now 3.77.

“I thought today she played the game regardless of what the score was,” Lowe said. “And that was the biggest thing. Just competing pitch to pitch and living in every single moment because you can worry about past pitches, worry about future pitches, but there’s nothing like the one that you’re throwing right now.

“She was able to do that today and is mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted. And that’s what she said after the game. That’s what happens when you play the game that way that locked in.”